Monday, June 25, 2012

2012 Art of the Car Concours at the Kansas City Art Institute gets award for "most prestigious"

Many of Kansas City’s car shows are the best of their kind for one reason or another. The World of Wheels may be the oldest. The Goodguys show is likely the biggest. The Greaserama is the most eclectic. You can go on and on. But if you want to give out the award for the most prestigious car show in Kansas City, look no further than the Art of the Car Concours, which was held on the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute. This show was created by Kansas City attorney and avid car collector Marshall Miller, and is a benefit for the KCAI scholarship fund.

I’ve been to a lot of cruise nights, but I’ve never seen a Duesenberg at one. At this show, there were three. One of them was a sporty white roadster that was originally owned by Ginger Rogers. One of them was a big green J Weymann St. Cloud Sports Sedan with its body covered in leather (my dad said something like, “oh, it would take a lot of shoe polish to keep that thing up”). And one was a black sedan with paint so rich, smooth and deep it looked like liquid. My God, that thing was gorgeous.

Ever seen a Stutz? Not many people have. But there was one here. This was another unbelievable black beauty. The owner said it was a 1929 chassis with a 1930 body. Whatever you want to call it, it was an amazing thing. You could tell it was the Lamborghini sports car of its day—only way better. The red leather bucket seats, the low, racy top, the chrome wheels and trim, all made for something that was more art than machine.

The coveted People’s Choice award went to a swoopy 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C SS Figoni et Falaschi Teardrop Coupe that was brought in from the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, Calif. That car was certainly artistic, with a flowing, organic shape that exemplified the best French designs of the day. You know this baby is nice, because before it came to Kansas City, it picked up Concours awards at Pebble Beach and in Europe.

There were some later-model cars that I was at least a little more familiar with there as well. A back-over-red ’54 Buick Roadmaster cast a pretty impressive shadow over the show field. With four Kelsey-Hayes Buick wire wheels on the ground and one in the Continental Kit, this was just a really pretty machine. I have a hard time believing that a new Buick Lacrosse will ever look this good in the future.

Then there was a ’55 Buick Special that was just as interesting as the Roadmaster, but for different reasons. This ’55 wasn’t as opulent and grand as the ’54, but it appeared to be mostly original, and it looked fantastic on its dog dish hubcaps. The red and white Buick had an Ararat Shrine sticker in the back window, so it was local, and I am a bit surprised that we’ve never seen it before at other shows or cruises.

I also really liked a ’60 Dodge Phoenix convertible. It isn’t something that I remember looking at before, and I’m liking these Forward Look Chrysler products more all the time. This one was really pretty red with white, silver, and black interior accents. It even had the swivel-out driver’s seat. It was pretty gol-danged impressive.

We approached this show from a different perspective than we have in the past. This year, my dad’s white and blue 1961 Corvette was accepted to be part of the show. Certainly, when dad bought it 34 years ago, he never dreamed that it would be a part of something like this.

In fact, he almost never took it to car shows, because when he did, people would tell him that he needed to restore it, which made him mad. Time seems to have changed most of that, because now that originality is the thing that people seem to appreciate most. I think we both got a kick out of watching people take little detail pictures of the old Vette with their high-dollar cameras at this fancy event.

But I didn’t just sit and the shade and babysit the Corvette. No, sir. I braved the 100-degree temperatures and snapped-off 389 photos of my own. As usual, you can see them in the slideshow below.

18 comments:

You HAVE GOT to love a show that has Talbot Lagos, Cords, Ferraris and a Corvair Rampside!!! Fantastic cars, and great photos as always. Certainly wish I could have been there, but seeing it here is the next best thing. Thanx for posting.

I miss the fenders and the benders of the Stutz. My grandfather use to show us his Stuts that is rotting in their backyard. Since he can't use it anymore, he turned it into a decoration. Now he has bought a new car from ford dealers long island. Our grandparents are driving from state to state using the new car.

The only way that I could get a closer look on my dream car is by attending car shows! And every time I see them still good looking, something crosses my mind if they bring these cars to auto detailing perth for a good quality service.

I saw a Duesenberg in my grandpa's house when I took my vacation there. He said he was gonna give it to me on my birthday, although I'm sure he was just kidding! I'm not quite sure if it still works, but I would love to drive it! It's second on my "dream cars" list, next to Hyundai Genesis.

Wow! I must say that the 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C SS Figoni et Falaschi Teardrop Coupe caught my attention. It has a unique exterior design which will make the people turn their heads and admire its design.